And just like that, I wasn’t sure if my day was going to get better or worse…
Chapter Thirteen
Shear
Well, that girl was more than a bit fucked up.It was pretty obvious to me as she walked, even if anyone else would have missed it.
Her brain sparked up, so many ugly emotions twisting together, feeding off each other, even though her outer appearance gave none of it away.In fact, it impressed me that she could hide the turmoil so well.
Normally people gave away small hints, but she offered little beyond a rapid heartbeat.
It reminded me to be cautious when it came to her—the girl could probably lie very well if she chose to.
Kenyon had mentioned that she’d had a nightmare, but it was hard to believe it would affect her this much.Mental activity like that implied the nightmare had brought up issues already deeply held.It wouldn’t happen from just a bad dream, but only when trauma was pricked by reliving it, when it stirred up the past.
I’d thought the same thing after her reaction to The Pitt.
What exactly had she gone through?What was it that she kept locked up in that head of hers?
I wanted to take a spin around it, to dip my toes into her past, into the tangled mess of her thoughts.That was partly because I enjoyed it, because my powers meant it felt comfortable, but this was different.
It felt more personal, as though I somehow needed to understand.I wanted to unwind the mess of her head, to guide her back through it, to fix it so she could at least sleep.
However, none of that was for right now—probably not ever.That sort of work took trust, and I doubted she was planning on giving me any amount of trust.
Not that anyone ever did…
“Ready?”the police officer asked as he came out of the interrogation room, his voice tight.
Law enforcement tended not to trust espers.We were a force greater than them, something they could neither counter nor control.If we wanted to pose a problem, we certainly could.
That would put anyone on edge, even if we proved ourselves useful from time to time.
Times like right now.
I nodded, noting the way the officer refused to meet my gaze.Did he think I couldn’t use my powers if he didn’t look at me?Silly superstition.That might be true of lower-rank espers, but one of my skill didn’t need that.If I wanted to tear into his mind, I could do it without even line of sight, so long as I’d interacted with him in the past month or so.
Knowing that wouldn’t make him any more comfortable, though, so I kept the fact to myself and simply nodded.
Speaking rarely helped me.
He gestured for us to follow, so I did, with Yun beside me.The others had stayed in the waiting area, since the police didn’t want four espers traipsing around in their department.As if that mattered.If we wanted to tear this place down to the slab, there was nothing any of them could do to stop us.
The officer held open the door to a conference room, waiting until we entered before he spoke.“I’ll go get him.”He didn’t wait for a response before leaving.
Yun shifted her weight from foot to foot, a sure sign of discomfort.“Why am I here?”she finally asked.
“Policy.When dealing with civilians, they require a guide to be present.”
“Why?This isn’t even a hard task.”As soon as she asked, she let out a soft laugh, as though she’d worked it through herself.“They worry that any esper will get corrupted, huh?”
“A few videos online about what happens and they think it’s something to worry about.Don’t concern yourself—I won’t need guiding.They just require it.”
Yun nodded and took a seat near the back corner.Her picking that place suggested that she feared someone behind her.It further drove home her unease, the idea that she was especially untrusting at the moment.“And the job?”
“You’re interested now?I would have thought you’d ask on the drive.”
She shrugged.“I figured I’d just sit in the car, so I didn’t really care.What the job is doesn’t change what I have going on, but I don’t usually have to be in the room.”
